691
Chapter 691
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
Dark matter power surged strongly from Rivein's sword that pierced the Guardian.
"ARRRGH!"
The blade of Zahak that penetrated through protruded from the Guardian's chest.
Rivein applied force to his sword and fell toward the flagship with the Guardian.
CRASH!
BOOM!
The two landed on the flagship's deck with a thunderous noise.
The sword strike the Guardian had been concentrating to unleash on the flagship gradually dissipated.
Rivein drove Zahak deeper into the Guardian's back.
Then the Guardian's body, made of bandages, undulated as his head and limbs rotated, instantly switching front and back.
Now facing Rivein, the Guardian swung his bandage-formed sword at him.
SWISH!
Rivein pulled out his sword and stepped back.
Black energy gushed from where Zahak had been removed.
The Guardian clutched his chest wound that wouldn't heal, his eyes glowing fiercely.
But soon he removed his hand from his chest, formed swords in both hands, kicked off the deck and rushed toward Rivein, unleashing dragon-slaying techniques.
CLASH!
Fierce sword strikes flew toward Rivein.
But Rivein also used dragon-slaying techniques, defending against the Guardian's attacks without much difficulty.
CRASH!
BOOM!
Rivein's sword and the Guardian's sword collided, creating massive shockwaves.
Their swords clashed repeatedly, and with each collision, the black energy flowing from the Guardian's chest grew darker.
The reason he had been able to guard the final tower for a thousand years was because the Elder Dragon had used the God of Chaos's power to bind his soul to the tower.
But Rivein's sword strike, imbued with distorted causality, had damaged the power of the God of Chaos.
At this rate, Terakan's soul would no longer be able to remain in the physical world and would perish.
The Guardian also knew this and realized he didn't have much time left.
His eyes glowed once more as he combined his two bandage swords into one large greatsword about the size of a bastard sword.
WOOOOOM!
The Guardian raised the sword above his head and concentrated all his power.
The waves emanating from his body were so powerful they made the atmosphere vibrate.
Rivein also raised Zahak and said while looking at the Guardian,
"Guardian of the Tower. Stop your meaningless resistance and take me to where the Demon King's soul is. This false world will crumble, and the true world will be established."
The Guardian took a step forward without responding to Rivein's words.
WOOOOOM!
His sword created powerful waves.
The sword imbued with the will of annihilation that could make everything disappear flew toward Rivein.
Rivein looked at the Guardian with an expressionless gaze.
RUMBLE!
The Guardian's annihilation sword plunged toward Rivein, emitting intense waves that seemed to tear the atmosphere.
In that moment, the Elemental Sword activated in Rivein's sword.
WOOOOOM!
A field of gravitational force expanded, pushing back the Guardian's annihilation sword with gravity.
But the annihilation sword burrowed through the gravity pushing against it, attempting to cut down Rivein in one stroke.
CRACK!
Due to the power of the annihilation sword, cracks appeared not only in Zahak that Rivein was holding, but also in his black armor and physical body.
Since the waves affected the very source itself, inducing annihilation, he couldn't block it with his power.
Rivein frowned, trying to resist the power of annihilation.
But with only the Elemental Sword stolen from Zeke, it was insufficient to block the Guardian's annihilation sword.
CRACK!
Just as the annihilation sword was about to completely shatter Rivein by digging in more powerfully...
Suddenly, a change occurred in Rivein's expressionless gray eyes.
FLASH! FLASH!
His eyes changed into dragon eyes of a strange color, and the aura emanating from his body completely transformed.
Unlike before, Rivein's expression changed to one of composure as he looked at the Guardian facing him and smiled faintly.
"Terakan Draker, Guardian of the Final Tower."
After murmuring the Guardian's name, Rivein now smiled distinctly and spoke,
"My name is Arthur Draker. I am the one who inherited the name of the Draker family, and also the one who seeks to completely erase it."
As Arthur Draker, who had possessed Rivein's body, revealed himself , the cracking Zahak and armor returned to normal, and his physical body began to heal.
WOOOOOM!
The Guardian's sword strike that had been pushing Rivein began to be pushed back.
Arthur Draker's dragon eyes glowed as he showed an intrigued expression.
"Oh my, the annihilation sword of the Hero Terakan. So this is how the legendary lost technique was."
Shortly after, amazingly, the same kind of waves as those from the Guardian's annihilation sword also arose from Zahak in his grip.
KUGUUGUGUGUGU!
When the annihilation waves from the two swords collided with each other, the surrounding atmosphere screamed and created a thunderous noise.
The Guardian felt momentary bewilderment seeing Arthur Draker who had mastered the Annihilation Sword after just one encounter.
Moreover, a darker black energy was flowing from the Guardian's chest area than before.
Arthur Draker, holding Zahark with one hand, clicked his tongue while looking at him and said.
"Terakan Draker, the legendary dragon slayer…… Is this all you got?. How disappointing."
After finishing his words, he snapped his fingers and something suddenly popped out of thin air.
CHWARARARAK!
What emerged from all directions, tearing through space, were chains. Those chains quickly rushed in and wrapped around the Guardian.
"KUGH!"
A change occurred in the delicately balanced collision between the Guardian and Arthur Draker.
As the Guardian was pushed back, the annihilation wave engulfed him.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
Swept up in the annihilation wave, the Guardian could no longer maintain his sword stance..
The coat he was wearing was torn to shreds, and the bandages also couldn't maintain their proper form as most flew away.
When the storm of waves subsided, the ragged Guardian appeared, his entire body bound and restrained by chains.
"KULUK!"
The annihilation force had erased his bindings, revealing what lay beneath,within the missing sections of his body, his form was no longer flesh, but a faint, Sprit existence.
Having abandoned his mortal body as the Guardian of the Tower, he had existed here as a spirit body for a thousand years.
Arthur Draker, who had possessed Rivein's body, slowly approached the restrained Guardian.
"The legendary dragon slayer who endured a thousand years of time. Very interesting."
As Arthur Draker slowly extended his hand, the black energy flowing from the wound in the Guardian's chest was sucked into his palm.
TSUTSUTSUTSU!
The Guardian could feel not only his spirit body but also the Elder Dragon's power and the Chaos God's power dwelling in his body being drained away.
He glared at Arthur Draker and shouted.
"Stop this! No one must touch the Demon King's power!"
Despite the Guardian's desperate cry, Arthur Draker continued to absorb his power without concern.
As the Guardian continued to have his power taken, the light in his eyes gradually began to fade.
"...It must not happen. The Demon King must never be touched..."
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
Arthur Draker, disregarding his warning, interrogated him while absorbing his power.
"Terakan Draker, tell me how to enter the final tower. Then I will not completely annihilate your spirit body but give you a physical body so you can live again."
Despite Arthur Draker's offer, the Guardian kept his mouth firmly shut without answering.
Seeing this, Arthur Draker shook his head.
"How foolish. All the power and authority you possess will be absorbed by me anyway. Finding the way to the final tower is just a matter of time."
Then, even while losing his power, the Guardian slowly opened his mouth.
"...Only curses await those who covet the Demon King's power."
Arthur Draker shook his head with an arrogant expression at his words.
"That applies only to the weak. Before the true master of the new world who will subdue the Demon King's power, such curses have no meaning at all."
With those words, Arthur Draker's dragon eyes gleamed ominously.
This time he inserted his hand directly into the Guardian's split chest.
PUEOK!
Inserting his hand directly accelerated the absorption speed of the authority.
Arthur Draker looked at the Guardian with a satisfied face and said.
"Fragments of broken time, the Elder Dragon patched them together to create a maze. If I had entered as it was, I would have been trapped in the maze and never escaped. The tower itself was a trap."
The Elder Dragon used all its power to create the final tower and made it a trap to stop intruders.
It was the last measure to prevent anyone from approaching the Demon King's soul.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
As the Guardian's power flowed into Arthur Draker, the secrets of the final tower were gradually revealed.
Arthur Draker's pupils showed a strange light as he read those secrets.
"Oho, so you were the key to enter the tower."
The black tower existing within the barrier was only a visible form, not the true final tower.
To reach the true final tower where the Demon King's soul was sealed, one had to cross the boundary of the isolated dimension and the Guardian was the key to cross that boundary.
Arthur Draker immediately used the absorbed Guardian's power to forcibly open a path to the isolated dimensional realm.
JJEOJEOJEOJEOJEOK!
Then the space where the tower stood was forcibly torn, creating a gap.
Through that gap, the landscape of a ruined city was revealed.
Beyond that torn spatial gap was where the real final tower, with the Demon King's soul sealed inside, was located.
Arthur Draker smiled at this sight.
"So that's the place."
He ordered the angels who were keeping Bahamut in check to completely destroy the tower's barrier.
Following Arthur Draker's command, the angels flew toward the barrier that had been cracked by the spiral drill.
As they simultaneously extended their hands, dark matter gathered to form black spears.
The angels once again threw the black spears toward the crack in the barrier in unison.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The black spears thrown by the angels lodged into the crack in the barrier.
Then the crack began to accelerate further.
The dragons that had been gliding attacked the warships and then flew toward the angels again.
But Apollion's dragon slayers swinging chains blocked the movements of those dragons.
KRYARARARARARA!
The dragons screamed, but they couldn't easily break the soul chains that captured even spirit bodies.
The black spears thrown by the angels stuck in the barrier and began to erode it gradually.
JJEOJEOJEOJEOJEOK!
The cracks gradually worsened until finally, with a vibration, the barrier shattered from the top.
WOOOOOONG!
When the barrier broke, the gap that could enter the real final tower was completely exposed.
Arthur Draker saw this and gave an order.
"The Demon King's soul is there! All forces advance through the gap!"
Following Arthur Draker's order, Apollion's warships slowly moved toward the gap.
The dragons tried somehow to stop this but couldn't even approach the warships because of the dragon slayers.
Just when Apollion's warships had almost safely approached the gap.
Suddenly something poured down from the sky.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
It was hundreds of magic bullets.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG!
Apollion's warships tried to create barriers to block the magic bullets, but there were too many pouring down to block them all.
Eventually, warships hit by magic bullets were destroyed and crashed to the ground.
Arthur Draker's expression changed as he watched this from the flagship.
"...So you've come. Zeke."
What appeared through the clouds was none other than the Ark.
Behind the Ark, hundreds of warships flying the Black Sword flag appeared.
Arthur Draker glared at them and ordered his subordinates.
"Destroy all their ships!"
Following his order, Apollion's warships fired magic cannons.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG!
Surprisingly, the Triangle and other warships linked with the Ark at the center to create a huge defensive wall.
WOOOOOONG!
The massive defensive wall in the form of a shield blocked all the magic bullets from Apollion's warships.
Then this time, the bow of the Ark at the front opened on both sides and a main cannon protruded.
WOOOOOONG!
Soon enormous magic power was condensed in the main cannon and poured out a powerful magic beam toward Apollion's warships.